Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Australian government is being urged to consider altering their forms to be inclusive of intersex people.

"Australia's human rights office is pushing the federal government to allow some people to classify themselves as a third gender, intersex, for legal documents and procedures.

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission issued a paper titled "Sex Files -- The Legal Recognition of Sex: Proposed Reform" to transgender advocates across the country. The paper proposes the third gender classification to be included on legal documents such as drivers licenses and passports. The report was released in September, according to the agency's website, but the news media were not made aware of it until last week, the Sydney Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

Sex and Gender Education Australia, a transgender advocacy group, says forms should include "other" as a fourth option, allowing some not to identify as any sex.

The paper defines intersex as people who "cannot or do not identify as either male or female" and choose to be "identified on their birth certificate and passport as intersex." Additionally, those who cannot or choose not to have gender reassignment surgery would "not be automatically ineligible to request a change in their legal sex." (Advocate).

For detailed information on the proposal by the Human Rights Commission click here for their post on "sex files".

Also, join us in contacting officials of the Parliament of Australia to act to ensure that intersex people are recognized by the government.

Click here to email the Prime Minister and here to email select representatives of the federal government.

My only concern is that who this law will really be given to and the other is the abuse and misuse of the law by transgender people. I worry about some transgender person who will misuse the law that was intended for those who are genetically born intersex and those who have the DNA to prove it.

nicky,it is a fact that intersex people and transsexual people are not the same but we are related in the fact that we have gender issues!(most of us)

i,have always , ticked both boxes on forms where it indicates to tick a box to show my sex!my sex is intersex,klinefelter syndromed people regard themselves as males......yet fall under the category of intersex because males are xy(medical science says and teaches)and females are xx(medical science says and still teaches).

we certainly need more options on forms regarding sex!i thank openly and honestly Chris Somers who is probably the xxy that initiated this changei personally would like xxy to be printed on my passportthough i completely understand people that would not enjoy that spotlighted fact written on their personal passport because of the angst of others asking too many personal questionsits similar to homosexuals and vegetarians(i ask people not to freak out at all on the examples i give........i said "similar"......hahahaha)

THANKS SOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCHto whoever went through the legal proceedings to put the intersex footprint there so as others can benefit from a simple adjustment on many forms!the simple adjustment is:to provide at least one other box on forms that ask us people to categorise us as our respective sexes!the box "male" and the box "female" prove not to be sufficient in this day in age!thanks for reading this with an open mind people!

I'm an intersexed man born in between male and female in the U.S. I live as a man, and look like I'm male except for my privates. Naked I am clearly not male or female, I'm male AND female and because my documents can't read "intersexed" I am forever at risk of being accused of being an imposter. I'm not even rare - one in 2,000 people is like me. We are sick to death of being made to cover up our reality to blend in with a society that pretends we don't exist.

Rebuttal to Nicky: Very few intersexed people have a genetic variation. Many MtF Transsexuals have been found to actually be intersexed women who had been surgically altered at birth to be assigned "female". Doctors get the sex wrong when trying to force a gender on us. I am totally unconvinced that it is possible for the transgendered to "abuse" this law. There really are transgendered people, they really are a sex variation and it really is accurate to note that on their documents. I see NO valid reason not to use the term "Intersex" for us all. It means between male and female. Whether that is a reflection of your body, identity or both is imaterial. They are our cousins. Where is your good will?

I'm more concerned that it will be used against those of us who ARE female but have had a long road to get there as far as the rest of the world is concerned. What's to stop them from FORCING everyone questioning or different into an Intersex classification? It's a medical condition, not an identity.